BAIC to launch two own brand cars in 2011, using Saab technology

BAIC Motor will manufacture its first two self-branded vehicles based on Saab technology next year when a new factory is completed, the auto maker said yesterday.

The plant to make the mid-to-high-class C60 and C71 models is expected to be completed in June, said BAIC Motor, a unit of Beijing Automotive Industry Holdings Co, the country's fifth-largest auto maker.

"Saab technology will become an important base of BAIC's self-developed vehicles," the company said in a statement.

BAIC, the Chinese partner of Daimler AG and Hyundai Motor Corp, last year paid US$220 million to buy technology from General Motors' Saab unit in its quest to roll out self-branded models. Industry watchers said the acquisition of Saab technology has shortened the development cycle of self-branded passenger cars by four to five years.